Sydney 2000 Olympics - Opening Ceremony
“Welcome” segment
This was my once in a lifetime opportunity to work with “the best of the best” Ric Birch, Master of Ceremonies, David Atkins Artistic Director / Producer, Ignatius Jones, Segment Director and Lt Don Eyb, Troop Drill Leader.
On Friday, September 15, 2000, approximately 100,000 spectators and over 12,000 performers celebrated the opening of the 27th Olympiad in Sydney, Australia. Four billion viewers joined them worldwide. Ric Birch, the Master of Ceremonies and David Atkins, the artistic director, produced an epic pageant of Australian culture. A lone rider galloped out onto the stadium proper followed by 120 stock horses and riders who signalled the start of the show with their performance. This was the largest 'musical ride' (horses and riders choreographed to music) in history.
The preparation behind the scenes took over 12 months to deliver. As Horsemaster, my team and I had the difficult role of careful selection of horse/rider combinations. Rehearsals then took place in Scone, New South Wales on two separate occasions which involved boot camp training. From over 350 applicants we selected 140 to be involved on the day, 20 of these were standby riders. For the big event, everyone travelled to Castle Hill, Sydney where they spent 10 full-on days and nights rehearsing, training and finally performing to the world their specially choreographed routine.
2005 FEI World Endurance Championships Opening and Closing Ceremonies
Tony Jablonski and team were commissioned by Kevents (an Italian Production Company) to assist and choreograph the horse components for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies held in the desert nearby to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.We were based at the renowned Bab Al Shams
The following newspaper excerpt from The Gulf News will give some idea of the grandeur of this event.
Glittering start to World Endurance Championship Dubai: General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence, declared the FEI World Endurance Championship opened in 2005 at an impressive opening ceremony at the Dubai International Endurance City.
Shaikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr. Shaikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and President of the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation, also attended the opening ceremony.
Princess Haya Bint Hussain of Jordan, Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar, Sultan Mizan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Malaysia along with a host of dignitaries attended the ceremony.
Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Majid Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum, Shaikh Hazza Bin Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Shaikh Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan all members of the UAE team were also present.
Riders from all participating countries were also present along with the riders, officials from the 42 countries participating in the world championship, being held here for the second time.
The 160-km ride was run in six stages.
The UAE team is being led by Shaikh Mohammad, who is also the reigning European Open Champion.
The current world champion is also from the UAE, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum having won the title in Jerez, Spain, in 2002.
This 2005 edition of the World Endurance Championship has attracted a record number of 186 riders from 42 countries and is the single largest equestrian championship ever held.
The Opening Ceremony segments represented the 42 participating nations, with the flag presentation of each country as the finale.
The Closing Ceremony (Medal Presentation) was a tribute to the Arabian horse. Over 50 riders/horses participated in the ceremony, performing a number of intricate manoeuvres and patterns, with the finale a magnificent golden fireworks display.